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Glossary

  • Albergo Diffuso's tourism efficiency

    The skill, owned by a managing company and its partners, to meet the requests of tourists, working guests, holiday houses' owners, excursionists and inhabitants. Efficiency gaps mean increase of activity during high season periods, brief periods of stay, lower expenses, risk of offer replacement, and loss of benefits coming from tourism awareness of the village.

  • Albergo Diffuso

    There are several definitions of an Albergo diffuso (AD):


    • literal: "a group of small hotels, located in near buildings, which provides a unified service of reception, restaurant and management" (Dictionary of Italian Language, Zanichelli;
    • product-related, short: "a receptive enterprise, located in a historical center, within a lively community, divided into 2 or more buildings, next to each other, with a single management and able to supply any service to its guests" (Dall'Ara);
    • product-related, long: "a receptive structure, made of 2 or more existent buildings, located in the historical center of a village or of a town, within a hosting existent community, with a single management, as regards trading, planning and co-operating with local institutions, whose managing style is integrated in the local territory and in its culture, which has places for the guests' mutual services, and hotel services of welcome, reception, restaurant, with a maximum distance of 200 meters between mutual places and rooms and apartments" (Dall'Ara).

    The word Albergo Diffuso was used for the first time in 1982, in Friuli Venezia Giulia, for the Comeglians Project (Borgo Maranzanis).

  • Borgo's hotel

    A hospitality proposal obtained through the conversion of a hystoric centre which is rescued and converted from residential into tourism activity, without native inhabitants, or with inhabitants (native or not) whose main job is tourism.

  • Coopetitive advantage

    The competitive advantage (Porter) reached by two or more organizations thanks to more productive co-operation.

  • Co-opetitive system

    The union of 2 or more economical organizations which are direct competitors in the same cluster. This system can generate results from both individual (competitive) actions and mutual (co-opetitive) ones, with a certain balance among them. The cluster which hosts an Albergo Diffuso is an example of coopetitive system.

  • Co-operative result

    The benefit which can be reached by a company only through co-operation with other companies, similar, different or competitive. Examples can be the markets where a company stays thanks to the selling network of another one, the possibility to propose discounts or lower prices for mutual services and products, coming from the increase of purchasing, additional know-how which can be reached without engaging new workers.

  • Coopetitive Index

    The position held by an Albergo Diffuso (PPP based) which uses houses and services in the hosting village, compared to competitors.

  • Co-opetition

    A system to reach results used by companies, based on their skill to compete with each other, but also to co-operate. Co-opetition should mean a "co-opetitive balance", but often it does not lead to balanced results.

  • Effectiveness of an Albergo diffuso

    The skill to be known within the national and the international markets, owned by an Albergo Diffuso. The measure of success consists in its economic results.

  • Equity of a tourism offer represented by the Albergo diffuso

    The skill, owned by a managing company and its private and public partners to offer a series of services which can increase the value of the village's tourism identity, and meets to the requests and expectations of the most important guests.

  • Governance

    A management system which is not based on authority but on involvement of people and organizations in order to manage a private or mixed partnership, especially strategic ones (Public-Private Partnership or PPP).

  • Hospitality format

    Is the sum between the physical and organizational carachteristics owned by an hospitality enterprise. It can be acknowledged or not cosidering the different national rule systems existing. The Albergo Diffuso is recognized by regions in Italy as: Sardegna, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Marche, Umbria, Emilia Romagna, Liguria, Lazio, Calabria, Lombardia and the Provincia Autonoma di Trento.

  • Internal-external hall

    The two kinds of places, relationships and experiences offered by an IRD as the Albergo Diffuso. The internal hall is the group of reception and mutual usage places, managed by the enterprise. The external hall is the village which hosts the enterprise (Dall'Ara).

  • Local Way Of Life

    One of the main tourism assets of several little villages as the one which hosts the alberghi diffusi. It requires continuous action in order to become a source of income, new jobs and investments by the local community.

  • Land grabbing

    Is "the land acquisition massive campaign operated by great group of interest as investment funds or multinationals in poor countries" (FAO). Some of the factors which underpins land acquisitions are foodsecurity concerns, food supply problems and other uncertainties which limits agricultural production in the investors countries. Other factors regarding tourism are the limited availability of physical space needed by great infrastructure and tourism structures in the main tourism destinations. Negative land grabbing occurs when the disavantages overcomes benefits for the locals in the medium term period.

  • Marketing-Partnership (or "Co-marketing")

    The system used to manage marketing actions with other organizations with the same targets.
    Co marketing is compulsive to promote the Albergo diffuso considering its small organization.

  • Public Private Strategic Partnering

    The method which aims to increase the productivity of a group of 2 or more single organizations. See also "media" section.

  • Post-industrial tourism (tourist)

    The guest who is most interested in experiences rather than in products to buy or commodities. He demand "customized" activities, knows how to use the Internet, wants a strong local identity and great efficiency, seeks real relationship with inhabitants. It's also known as "3rd generation guest" (Dall'Ara) and follows the industrial-era tourist, more interested about standard, all-included offers, infrastructures, services dedicated to tourists and holiday. Post-industrialism represents one of the biggest opportunities for the small villages which hosts the alberghi diffusi.

  • Paese-Albergo (Village-Hotel)

    "A non-hotel tourism enterprise which organizes, promotes and manages singlehandedly lodging, restaurant, recreation services, offered within a single place, which often is a single village with a local identity, and coherent organization and demand (Droli). Is a kind of spreaded hospitality enterprise different and alternative to the Albergo Diffuso.

  • Spreaded Residence

    A receptive enterprise, made of a group of houses located in a single village, but far from each other, and with just few centralized services, such as booking and cleaning. One of the main difference between this and the Albergo diffuso formula consists in its non-hotelier status.

  • Spreaded Hospitality Enterprise (SHE or italian term IRC)

    A kind of enterprise which offers to its guests lodging in 2 or more hotel or non-hotel buildings, even different from each other, with a single management, and which can be considered a tourism product of the entire village. IRC's are: tourism rental agencies, residences, AD's and Paesi Albergo.
    Local Way Of Life

  • Second best

    This word, introduced by Lipsey and Lancaster about key-matters for economical balance, is used in economical policy to show a good solution, but a second-range one, to be used only if it's not possible to reach a result with another good solution, but a firs-range (or "first best") one. It assumes the different level of 2 or more solutions. The vision of co-operation as a "second best" solution is one of the more common risks in local tourism development strategies, in local tourism systems and in small groups of companies.
    Coopetitive model of doing business balances the importance of cooperation and competition.